Miranda Goshawk

"It's covered in dust! You must be the first student in years to pick it up."

Warning!

At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Wonderbook: Book of Spells. As such, spoilers will be present within the article. Please take care when reading this article if you have not yet been through the latest update.

"I could not be prouder that this simple school text book is now being used in schools for magic all over the world, and has been translated into seventy-two languages, including Gobbledegook and Mermish."

Miranda Goshawk (b. 1921) was a celebrated author who specialised in Charms spellbooks. The Standard Book of Spells collection, written by her, were Hogwarts textbooks, and covered the entire Charms syllabus.

Contents

Biography

Early life

"I was born into a poor family, the last of nine sisters. When I was a youngster, there was no basic spellbook to give a beginner witch like myself the clear and simple instructions that would have made magic a much less mysterious process."

Miranda Goshawk was born in 1921,[1] somewhere in Great Britain, the last of nine daughters born to the wizarding Goshawk family.[2] Her family was relatively impoverished by the time she arrived, and she recalls having to wear her sisters' hand-me-down robes, which she found "embarrassing".[2]

A younger Miranda Goshawk.

In her youth, she received formal instruction, attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from approximately 1932 to 1939. Miranda found the complicated instructions and abstruse concepts that she found in her "old-fashioned textbooks" rather hard to understand. To further her confusion when it came to learning magic, her sisters used to deliberately give her the wrong incantation for every spell she attempted.[2]

As the youngest child in a large family, she also often found it difficult to make herself heard, and sometimes resorted to using the Bat-Bogey Hex — which she invented herself — to render whoever she wanted to give a piece of her mind silent long enough to let her speak. She used it on her sister Diadema to get her to return clothes she borrowed without permission; on her sister Romilda to keep her out of her room went she wanted to be left alone; and on her sister Tangwystl when she wanted to keep her quiet so she could finish her homework.[2]

Adult life

After her schooling, in which she self-admittedly "struggled", Ms. Goshawk realised that the help she had needed as a young witch simply did not exist. In response to this, she made a living by writing school textbooks all the while striving to make her writings both scientifically correct and academically useful, but also appealing and plain enough to be understood without too much difficulty, allowing every student to be in possession of knowledge about "basic and not-so-basic" witchcraft.[2]

Her first book, the Book of Spells, was a success: it was not only translated into seventy-two languages (among them, Gobbledegook and Mermish), but it also became an approved textbook in many schools for magic around the world. Goshawk did not miss the opportunity to get back at her sisters for their mischievous pranks: she had "special editions" of Book of Spells (actually just editions with several misprints) sent to them. As a result, and as part of a series of "comical mishaps", her sister Romilda was left with a tail, and Miranda's relationship with her sisters was negatively affected. Goshawk notes that the tail eventually vanished, and that the sisters became friends again.[2]

In recognition of her efforts in the teaching of magic, Miranda Goshawk was immortalised in a Chocolate Frog Card bearing her effigy and achievements.

Personality and traits

Although her decision to include jinxes in Book of Spells, a school textbook, was controversial, Goshawk defended it by stating that she believed including mild offensive spells in the book would deter students from seeking out more dangerous spells with which to settle their disputes.[2]

Magical abilities and skills

Charms mastery: Miranda seemed to be masterful in the use of charms, having written a series of books used in Hogwarts Charms lesson.

Etymology

Miranda is from Spanish and means "admirable" or "beautiful." A goshawk is a large, powerful species of hawk with rounded wings, long tail and brown or grey feathers. It is also pronounced like "Got chalk" nodding towards her teaching standard.

Behind the scenes

Book of Spells was purportedly "200 years old",[7] suggesting it was published sometime in 1812 (200 years prior to 2012, the year in which the game was released) or 1791-1798 (200 years before the time setting of the Harry Potter novels. Possible explanations include that the book was published by ancestor of Goshawk's with the same name,that the game is set sometime after 2121 or that the chocolate frog card gave an incorrect birth date.